1Annual Report 2014

ANNUAL REPORT 2014

European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) aisbl/ivzw

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E-Mail: info@eqar.eu

Web: http://www.eqar.eu/

Copyright © 2015 by EQAR aisbl/ivzw

Concept and Design www.die-hoffnungstraeger.de

ANNUAL REPORT 2014

ANNUAL REPORT 2014

Foreword

1. Report of the Register Committee

Decisions on Inclusion and Renewal of Registration

Coverage of External Review Reports

Substantive Change Reports

Complaints

Preparation for Transition to the Revised ESG

2. Contribution to Policy Developments in the EHEA

Revision of the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG)

Bologna Follow-Up Group and Working Groups

European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes

Recognising International Quality Assurance Activity (RIQAA Project)

Annual Monitoring of Registered Agencies‘ Activities

3. Communication and Organisational Development

Publications

Website and Social Media

Representation and Relations with Partners

Membership

Statutory Bodies

Staff

Finances

4. List of Registered Quality Assurance Agencies

5. List of Annexes (see also www.eqar.eu/2014/)

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Table of Contents

6 Annual Report 2014

Dear members and partners,

Completing another productive, successful and exciting year, it

is with pleasure that we present to you the EQAR Annual Report

2014, featuring the highlights of the year.

By the end of 2014, the Register included 37 quality assurance

agencies that demonstrated their substantial compliance with

the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG). With the addition

of Austria, Norway, Portugal and Serbia, there are now agencies

from 18 European countries on the Register.

The United Kingdom became the 33rd Governmental Mem-

ber of EQAR. While this consolidates further the support and

involvement of European governments, it remains EQAR‘s vision

that all 47 European Higher Education Area (EHEA) countries

support and participate in the governance of EQAR. To this end,

a special invitation letter was sent to the Ministers of those

countries that are not governmental members yet, and we are

hopeful that there will be new governmental members in 2015.

The endorsement by the Bologna Follow-Up Group of the revised

ESG marked an important milestone for EQAR. At the same time,

a good part of the work for EQAR still lies ahead: after having

published a Policy on Transition to the Revised ESG for registered

agencies, the EQAR Register Committee began its discussions

on the use and interpretation of the revised ESG. This will result

in a public policy document, to be launched in 2015 in order to

create ex ante full transparency of EQAR‘s expectations towards

agencies.

Following the ministerial recommendations, it was a priority for

EQAR in 2014 to analyse and discuss developments in cross-

border external quality assurance, as part of the RIQAA project.

The final conference gathered nearly 100 practitioners and

policy makers, who discussed the project‘s findings and policy

recommendations. While cross-border quality assurance is a

reality across the EHEA, national regulatory frameworks for

recognising such reviews lag behind and lead to unproductive

duplication of efforts.

These conclusions and recommendations will also be fed into

the preparations for the Yerevan Ministerial Conference, in May

2015.

We wish to thank all members and partners for the excellent

cooperation we had throughout the year. With the expect-

ed adoption of the revised ESG, we look forward to continuing

our common journey towards a coherent quality assurance

framework in the EHEA.

Foreword

Andres G. Orphanides

President, Executive Board

Eric Froment

Chair, Register Committee

7Annual Report 2014

This section of the Annual Report

relates to the work of the EQAR Register

Committee; it provides an overview of

the two application rounds in 2014, and

observations resulting from them. The

EQAR Register Committee independently

considers and decides upon applications

by quality assurance agencies for inclusi-

on on the Register.

1.1 Decisions on Inclusion and Renewal of Registration

The Register Committee has continued to

use its established process, including two

main rapporteurs and a third rapporteur,

assigned from amongst Committee

members, to assess appli cations as pre-

paration for decision- making.

For a full description of the process used

to consider applications for inclusion on

the Register please refer to the Guide

for Applicants www.eqar.eu/application.

html) and the EQAR Self-Evaluation Re-

port (March 2011), available at: www.eqar.

eu/publications/reports.html

In 2014, the Register Committee

consider ed and approved six applications

for inclusion on the Register additionally,

registra tion was renew ed for six quality

assurance agencies (see Table 1).

At the end of 2014, the Register included 37 quality assurance agencies from 18 Euro-

pean countries (see List of Registered Agencies), including four countries from which

no agencies had been on the Register before: Austria, Norway, Portugal and Serbia.

The Register Committee has had a practice to “flag” issues for future attention in

cases where the Committee was of the view that an applicant needed to pay particular

attention to its compliance with specific aspects of the European Standards and Guide-

lines (ESG).

Report of the Register Committee

Governmental Member countries where registered agencies are based

Other countries where registered agencies are based

Governmental Member countries without registered agency

Figure 1: Registered Agencies and Governmental Members (2014)

8 Annual Report 2014

Table 2 provides an overview of the

number of times issues relating to a

particular standard were flagged in the

Committee‘s decisions on applications

for inclusion and for renewal of registra-

tion in 2014. Full details of the flags are

available in the Register Committee‘s

decisions, which are publicly available.

It should be noted that there are differen-

ces in the types and levels of concern

around ESG compliance in cases where

issues were flagged for attention. The

figures, therefore, only provide a general

indication of the areas of concern.

Annex 7 provides a statistical overview of

all applications and the decisions taken

on them since 2008, broken down by

initial applications for inclusion on the

register and applications for renewal of

registration.

Further information:

www.eqar.eu/register/

www.eqar.eu/decisions/

1.2 Coverage of External Review Reports

In two cases considered in 2014 the

Register Committee found that the report

on the external review of the applicant

agency against the ESG did not cover all

external quality assurance activities of

the agency within the scope of the ESG.

A Initial Applications

B Approved

C Withdrawn

D Rejected

E Pending 2nd consideration (to take place in 2015)

F Renewal Applications (every 5 years)

G Approved

H Pending 2nd consideration (to take place in 2015)

K Registration ended or expired

(see www.eqar.eu/register/former-entries.html)

Table 1: Overview Applications in 2014

9

6

0

1

2

7

6

1

1

EQAR Register Committee meeting in Kaunas (LT)

9Annual Report 2014

EQAR Register Committee meeting in Kaunas (LT)

In both cases, the external review panel

did not consider the ESG applicable to

some types of voluntary reviews with a

purely enhancement-led objective. The

Register Committee clarified that all

activities that are in principle an ESG-

type activity (i.e. they involve an external

review of a higher education institution,

a part thereof or a study programme)

have to be carried out in substantial

compliance with the ESG and have to be

analysed in the external review of the

agency. This explicitly includes volun-

tary and enhancement-oriented or

developmental activities (see par. 15, 16,

17 of the Practices and Interpretations).

In one case, the external review report did not fully analyse those reviews carried out

by the agency outside its home country. The Register Committee clarified that agencies

are expected to work in substantial compliance with the ESG wherever they operate,

within and outside the EHEA (see par. 17 of the Practices and Interpretations), and that

this needs to be analysed by the external review panel.

The Register Committee followed up on these problems regarding the proper coverage

of external review reports in the amendments to the Procedures for Applications

discussed in relation to the revised ESG (see 1.5 below).

1.3 Substantive Change Reports

According to the Procedures for Applications, registered agencies are requested to

inform EQAR of substantive changes. Substantive changes include any type of change

that may impact on the registered agency‘s ability to comply substantially with the ESG.

Typically, such changes relate to the organisational structure or the external quality

assurance activities of the agency.

10 Annual Report 2014

One application for provisional registration, under the Merger

Policy adopted in 2012, was made by the Finnish Education

Evaluation Centre (FINEEC), resulting from a merger of the

Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council (FINHEEC) with

two other bodies. The Register Committee granted FINEEC

provisional registration until 30/06/2016.

The Register Committee considered the substantive change re-

ports listed in Table 3 in 2014. TYPE OF CHANGE is an indication

of what change was reported by the agency. ACTION describes

the decision taken by the Register Committee. For other actions

than taking note of the report, full decisions can be found

at www.eqar.eu/decisions/ EQAR Register Committee meeting in Rome

AQAS - Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation of Study Programmes

Type of change: Establishment of an appeals committee

Action: Took note of the report

EVA - Danish Evaluation Institute

Type of change: Activities discontinued

Action: Reduced remaining validity of registration until 31/12/2014

FINHEEC - Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council

Type of change: Merger

Action: Granted provisional registration until 30/04/2016

The Danish Accreditation Institution

Type of change: Activities extended to other types of higher education institutions

Action: Took note of the report.

The Register Committee encountered a few cases where it was already clear when the agency was admitted to the Register that

specific substantive changes would occur in the near future. The expectation to report those changes was then underlined in the

approval decisions.

Table 3: Substantive Change Reports by Registered Agencies (2014)

11Annual Report 2014

2

3

2

1

3.1 Use of Part 2

3.2 Official Status

3.3 Activities

3.4 Resources

3.5 Mission Statement

3.6 Independence

3.7 External QA ProceduresA

3.8 Accountability Procedures

ESG Initial Renew ESG Initial Renew

Table 2: Issues Flagged in Applications (2014)

1

3

2

3

1

5

1

1

3

1

Where several issues related to the same standard were flagged for one agency, this is counted only once. Where a flag can be

attributed to two standards, it is accounted for in relation to the standard that addresses the issue most specifically or directly.AOnly flags related to issues that are not addressed more specifically in part 2; flags under 3.7 relate to students on expert groups, the use of site

visits and appeals procedures.

Agencies that had not made a Substantive Change Report by the

time when it would have been expected were reminded by the

EQAR Secretariat. This happened three times during 2014.

1.4 Complaints

The Register Committee first adopted a Complaints Policy

in June 2011, in order to address concerns of individuals or

organisations with regard to registered agencies‘ compliance

with the ESG or the integrity of the external review process

on which their registration is based. The Register Committee

revised the Complaints Policy in July 2014.

The revision introduced the possibility to consider anonymous

complaints, provided they are credible and substantiated.

Practically, a special web form has been created in order to allow

the anonymous submission of a complaint.

In 2014, EQAR received one complaint concerning the work of a

registered agency. The complaint was considered by the Register

Committee and found substantiated. The Register Committee

issued a formal warning to the agency concerned.

Further information:

www.eqar.eu/register/complaints

www.eqar.eu/decisions/

2.1 Use of Part 1

2.2 Development of Processes

2.3 Criteria for Decisions

2.4 Processes Fit for Purpose

2.5 Reporting

2.6 Follow-Up Procedures

2.7 Periodic Reviews

2.8 System-wide Analyses

12 Annual Report 2014

1.5 Preparation for Transition to the Revised ESG

The preparation for transition to the revised version of the ESG

(see also 2.1 below) was a priority for the Register Committee

in 2014.

The Register Committee discussed possible scenarios for

organising the transition to the revised ESG for registered

agencies in early 2014. In July 2014, the Register Committee

presented a consultation document to EQAR‘s governmental and

stakeholder members, registered quality assurance agencies,

ENQA and other organisations that have coordinated reviews of

registered agencies.

After the consultation, the Register Committee adopted a Policy

on Transition to the Revised ESG (see Annex 5), which ensures

that by 2020 all agencies on the Register will have been reviewed

against the revised ESG. The Policy will ensure a swift transition,

while giving agencies sufficient time to adjust their structures or

processes to the revised ESG

Initial applications (by agencies not yet included on EQAR) based

on the current ESG are only possible until 15 March 2015. There

will be no application round in the autumn of 2015. As from 2016,

applications can be made based on the revised ESG in line with

the regular deadlines.

For registered agencies whose registration expires during the

transitional period between 1/1/2015 and 31/12/2016, the Policy

provides for a provisional extension of their registration until

31/12/2016. This is to ensure that these agencies have sufficient

time to adjust and prepare for a review against the revised ESG.

Furthermore, the Register Committee started to prepare a new

policy document on the Use and Interpretation of the revised

ESG, as well as some amendments to the EQAR Procedures

for Applications. These will be finalised in 2015 and made

available to potential applicants and registered agencies in due

time before they are reviewed against the revised ESG, so as to

enhance the transparency of the Register Committee decision-

making process.

Proposal agreed ESG adopted

2014 2015 2016 2017

Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr

based on current ESG

>>>> extension for review against revised ESG

based on reviesed ESG

Figure 2: Renewal of Registration Based on Current and Revised ESG

13Annual Report 2014

2.1 Revision of the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG)

Based on the proposal prepared by the E4 Group in cooperation

with BusinessEurope, Education International and EQAR, the

Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) endorsed the revised ver-

sion of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in

the European Higher Education Area (European Standards and

Guide lines, ESG) in September 2014.

The proposal is subject to approval by the EHEA Ministers at

their meeting on 14/15 May 2015 in Yerevan (Armenia).

As part of the Steering Group for the ESG revision EQAR was ac-

tively involved in finalising the proposal for the revised ESG. Mo-

reover, EQAR prepared for the upcoming transition to the revised

ESG as regards registration of quality assurance agencies, see

section 1.5 above.

Further information:

www.eqar.eu/projects/esg-revision.html

Contribution to Policy Developments in the EHEA

2.2 Bologna Follow-Up Group and Working Groups

EQAR contributed actively to the work of the Bologna Follow-Up

Group (BFUG) and relevant sub-structures:

/ Working Group on Mobility and Internationalisation (represen-

ted by Eric Froment, Chair of the Register Committee).

/ Working Group on Reporting on the Bologna Process Imple-

mentation (represented by Melinda Szabo, Project Officer);

/ Working Group on Structural Reforms (represented by Colin

Tück, Director);

Based on the results of the RIQAA Project (see section 2.4 below)

EQAR was able to contribute significantly to the working groups.

Intermediate results were presented and discussed in the

Structural Reform Working Group. A part of the Working Group‘s

report addresses the issue of cross-border external quality

assurance activity in the EHEA.

Taking stock of the Bologna Process implementation, the Reporting

Working Group proposed a number of scorecard indicators. The

scorecard indicators are used to highlight progress on some of

the main policy commitments agreed in recent years, as well as

to continue to show the evolution on commitments agreed during

the first decade of the Bologna process.

One of the proposed scorecard indicators addresses the level of

openness to cross-border quality assurance activity of EQAR-

registered agencies, following up the commitment of EHEA

ministers (Bucharest Communiqué, 2012) to “allow EQAR-

registered agencies to perform their activities across the EHEA,

while complying with national requirements” and to “recognise

quality assurance decisions of EQAR-registered agencies on

joint and double degree programmes”.RIQAA Final Conference/EQAR Members‘ Dialogue, hosted by the University of Palermo

14 Annual Report 2014

2.3 European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes

Over the past years, QA agencies and stakeholders have been

working together to develop and test various approaches (see

Background Report) that ease at least the external QA of joint

programmes and, moreover, reflect their joint character. These

have demonstrated that the European Standards and Guidelines

(ESG), the Qualifications Framework for the European Higher

Education Area (QF-EHEA) and the European Credit Transfer and

Accumulation System (ECTS) together form a sound basis for QA

of joint programmes.

Despite the commitment of the Bucharest Communiqué (2012)

“to recognise quality assurance decisions of EQAR-register-

ed agencies on joint and double degree programmes”, the

full recognition of formal outcomes resulting from a single

external quality assurance procedure remains a cumbersome

and bureaucratic process in many places. This often makes the

conduct of several, fragmented processes the most practical

solution and leads to a situation where different agencies all

look only at the bits and pieces in “their” country.

EQAR was represented on an ad-hoc expert group mandated by

the BFUG to develop a European Approach for Quality Assur-

ance of Joint Programmes. The Approach addresses the issue

of fragmented quality assurance procedures and provides a

joint approach for quality assurance of joint programmes, based

on the agreed tools of EHEA and without applying additional

national criteria.

The proposal was endorsed by the BFUG and it is expected to be

adopted by Ministers in Yerevan, 2015.

Further information:

www.eqar.eu/projects/joint-programmes.html

2.4 Recognising International Quality Assurance Activity (RIQAA Project)

The RIQAA project was set up to inform policy makers regard-

ing the existing legal practices in EHEA countries recognising

EQAR-registered agencies and to provide information on how

HEIs make use of the existing possibilities to request quality

reviews by foreign agencies, as well as the rationale behind it.

The first activity of the project was a mapping of the legal frame-

works allowing the use of internationally active (EQAR-regis-

tered) QAAs in EHEA member countries (see map below). The

mapping was based on the responses of EHEA countries to the

Bologna Process Implementation Report, the examination of

national legislation available on the websites of ministries and

QAAs in these countries, and further feedback and updates to

the initial set of results.

To broaden the understanding with regard to the external quality

assurance (EQA) activities of agencies within different national

contexts and legal backgrounds as well as to shed light on the

main challenges and benefits related to their cross-border EQA

activity, a Survey on the Cross-Border Activity of QAAs was

carried out. The final analysis was based on the responses of 60

QAAs, including all EQAR-registered QAAs, representing 70% of

the total number of QAAs contacted.

RIQAA Final Conference/EQAR Members‘ Dialogue, hosted by the University of Palermo

15Annual Report 2014

A two day seminar was organised in Bayreuth on 29/30 April

2014 with representatives of over 24 QAAs operating within

the EHEA. The seminar allowed for a group consultation of the

participating QAAs and also provided the space for in-depth

discussions, exchanges of good practices and sharing of existing

experiences with international quality reviews.

To understand the dynamics of institutional experiences, a

mul tiple-case study research was carried out with 12 higher

education institutions from four countries that recognise

reviews of foreign EQAR-registered agencies as part of the

nation al requirements for external QA, and four countries that

do not. The countries and institutions were selected to represent

a geographically balanced sample and a relevant mix of quality

assurance frameworks across the EHEA.

On 21/22 October, the RIQAA Final Conference gathered

nearly 100 participants from 35 countries in Palermo (Italy)

including representatives of governments and ministries, QAAs,

interviewed HEIs, students, policy makers and other key stake-

holders (ESU, EURASHE, EUA, ENQA, European Commission

etc.) to discuss the project results.

The conference conclusions together with the informa-

tion provided in the final project report led to a set of policy

recommendations to governments, to quality assurance agencies

that operate across borders, to higher education institutions that

seek to work with a registered QAA and finally to EQAR.

The results of the project show that quality assurance agencies

have rapidly expanded their international activities in the last

years across the EHEA. These activities provide an added value

to agencies and also allow them to transfer their international

expertise to the national framework.

Higher education institutions are keen to take advantage of the

opportunities resulting from a cross-border external review.

They recognise as main benefits the development of an interna-

tional profile, a quality assurance that best suits their mission

and needs, and enhanced recognition of their degrees.

Yet, the national frameworks are lagging behind: the number of

countries that allow their higher education institutions to work

with a suitable quality assurance agency from abroad is small

(seeFigure 3), although the responses of quality assur ance

agencies to the RIQAA survey show that cross-border r eviews

are a reality in almost all EHEA member countries. In these

closed higher education systems, international evaluation or

accreditation takes place in addition to the obligatory, national

external quality assurance arrangements and it is not recognised

EQAR Seminar on Cross-Border External QA in Bayreuth, hosted by ACQUIN

16 Annual Report 2014

as part of it. For institutions, this often

means an unproductive duplication of ef-

forts.

The findings and conclusions of the pro-

ject are in the RIQAA Final Report at:

www.eqar.eu/riqaa/

2.5 Annual Monitoring of Registered Agencies‘ Activities

In order to provide a regular overview of

the volume of EQAR-registered quality

assurance agencies‘ activities at home

and across borders, an annual survey re-

garding the number of reviews was car-

ried out for the first time for the year 2014.

All but one of the 36 EQAR-registered

QAAs provided the data on their activities1.

The agency responses revealed that in

2014, EQAR-registered agencies carried

out around 8000 reviews in total, at both

programme and institutional levels (full

data: see Annex 6).

More than half of EQAR-registered QA

agencies (19 out of 35) carried out at least

one cross-border review (evaluation,

accreditation audit at programme or in-

stitutional level) in 2014. These activities

were spread across 29 EHEA member

states and several non-EHEA count-

ries and territories, with most of the

cross-border EQA being carried out at

programme level (see Figure 4).

Three registered agencies were originally set up with an international remit (EAPAA,

ECCE, IEP) and thus do not have a “home country” in the same way as a traditional,

national QA agency. However, a high number of cross-border external quality assur-

ance (EQA) is carried out by agencies that function (also) as national QA agencies in

their home countries. While the share of cross-border EQA reviews differs significantly

between these agencies, the home country reviews remain their primary focus (see

Figure 5). About 95 % of programme reviews and 85% of institutional reviews are carried

out by the nationally established QAAs within these 29 EHEA countries.

Countries recognising EQAR-registered agencies as part of the national requirements for

external QA

Countries recognising foreign agencies as part of the national requirements for external QA

Countries not open to external QA evaluation by a foreign QA agency

Figure 3: Openness to EQAR-registered QA agencies within EHEA (2014)

1 QANU did not submit its answers to the Survey, therefore it was not included in the present analysis.

17Annual Report 2014

EQA activities in non-EHEA countries were carried out by 12 of

the EQAR-registered agencies (mostly by QAA, ACSUG, CTI, AQAS

and ASIIN). These reviews (23 at institutional and 20 at program-

me level) represent 16% of the total cross-border reviews carried

out by EQAR-registered agencies. This shows that the ESG are

also used for external reviews outside the EHEA.

In many cases, a large number of cross-border EQA reviews are

carried out by agencies in one specific higher education system

(e.g. AQ Austria and ASIIN‘s each carried out over 20 programme

accreditations in Kazakhstan, while IEP carried out over 18 insti-

tutional evaluations in Romania and 10 in Montenegro).

A detailed overview of reviews by agency and country is available

as Annex 6.

Figure 4: Cross-border Reviews in 2014 by Country(ISO 3166 alpha-3 country codes, see www.iso.org/iso/country_codes.htm)

Institutional level Progamm level

18 Annual Report 2014

2

3

4

35

50

38

13

6

1

97

26

3

28

8

130

30

8

60

9

220

23

69

32

293

13

203

9

210

7

517

17

80

1

812

3

1187

3

888

1

EAPAA

ECCEIEP AQ Austr

ia

evala

g

ASIINDAQ

FIBAA

CTIAQAS

AHPGS

QAAACQUIN

ACSUG

ARACIS

ZEvANvA

OHCERES

A3ES

Cross-broder reviews at institution level

Cross-border reviews at programme level

Home country reviews

Figure 5: Reviews Across Borders and in Agencies‘ Home Countries (2014)

19Annual Report 2014

3.1 Publications

The EQAR Annual Report 2013, including the Report by the

Register Committee, was published on-line only. It is avail able

on the website and has been announced in one of the news-

letters.

EQAR issued two newsletters in 2014 (reaching more than 500

recipients each), providing information about new agencies on

the Register, relevant policy developments with regard to quality

assurance, meetings and upcoming events as well as infor ma-

tion on the RIQAA project.

One joint press release was issued to announce the proposal

for revised Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in

the European Higher Education Area (ESG) together with the E4

Group (ENQA, ESU, EUA, EURASHE), Education International

and BUSINESSEUROPE.

The preliminary project report of the RIQAA project (see section

2.4) was distributed on paper to participants of the RIQAA Final

Conference/EQAR Members’ Dialogue in Palermo in October

2014. The final RIQAA project report was published on-line in

December 2014.

3.2 Website and Social Media

EQAR’s website remains the main communication tool to address

its target audiences. Information on registered agencies can be

accessed both via a list of registered agencies and via a map,

showing where agencies are based and have carried out reviews.

The website further features regularly updated news items,

general information on EQAR and its workings, guidance for

applicant quality assurance agencies and other publications.

Since 2013, the decisions of the Register Committee are publicly

available on the website.

The number of visits on the EQAR website has been stable with

approximately 15 000 visits per months in 2014 (2013: ca 14 000,

2012: ca 8 000, 2011: ca 6 000).

EQAR maintained an active presence on various social media,

including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. EQAR reached out to

up to 600 people via its Facebook page and had more than 300

Twitter followers by the end of 2014.

3.3 Representation and Relations with Partners

EQAR was represented in all major conferences and seminars

concerned with quality assurance of higher education in the

European Higher Education Area (EHEA), including:

/ CHEA Annual Conference

/ Asia-Pacific Quality Network (APQN) – Annual Conference

/ EU-Africa Quality Assurance Seminar

/ Seminar Quality Assurance in the Mediterranean Region

/ European Commission Conference Towards a European

Area for Skills and Qualifications

/ INQAHEE Forum 2014 – Partnerships in Quality Assurance

in Higher Education

/ EAIE Conference – Mapping the internationalisation of

higher education Europe

/ ASEM Dialogue – Quality Assurance and Recognition

/ ENIC-NARIC Annual Joint Meeting

/ EQAF – Changing education – QA and

the shift from teaching to learning

Communication and Organisational Development

20 Annual Report 2014

3.5 Statutory Bodies

At the General Assembly of 8 April 2014, EQAR members elected a new Executive Board

for a two-year mandate commencing on 1 May 2014:

/ Andreas Orphanides (President), EURASHE

/ Maria Kelo (vice-President), ENQA (re-elected)

/ Fernando Galán Palomares (vice-President), ESU

/ Tia Loukkola (Treasurer), EUA

The functions of President, vice-President and Treasurer rotate annually amongst board

members.

The General Assembly of 2014 approved the new Register Committee with a mandate

from 1 July 2014 until 30 June 2016.

/ Future of Higher Education –

Bologna Researchers Conference

/ Bologna Follow-up Group Meetings

and BFUG Working Groups

EQAR further contributed to sever-

al conferences organised by national

ministries, quality assurance agencies

and stake holder organisations. In doing

so, EQAR was able to provide informa-

tion both on its work and on the RIQAA

project, reaching both potential appli-

cants and the higher education com-

munity in general.

various international quality assurance

agencies and stakeholder organisations

visited the EQAR offices to learn more

about EQAR’s work.

Further information:

www.eqar.eu/publications/presentations.

html

3.4 Membership

The United Kingdom joined EQAR as

Governmental Member in 2014. This

means that of the 47 countries of the

EHEA that are eligible for governmental

membership, 32 governments are now

members of EQAR (see Figure 6 and

Annex 3).

Figure 6: Governmental Members as of 31/12/2014

21Annual Report 2014

Freddy Coignoul, Anita Lice, Olav Øye and Tibor Szántó were

newly nominated to the Register Committee and replaced

(respectively) Henrik Toft Jensen, Christoph Anz, Anca Prisacariu

and Mala Singh. The other six members already served on the

Register Committee under the previous mandate(s) and were

re-nominated.

The Register Committee re-elected Eric Froment as its Chair

and Lucien Bollaert as vice-Chair.

The full composition of all EQAR statutory bodies is included in

Annex 4.

3.6 Staff

In order to handle the growing workload the employment

percentages of two staff members were increased (Melinda

Szabo, Project Officer, to full-time and Annelies Traas, Events

and Communications Officer, to 60%).

With these changes the Secretariat has a total staff of 2,6

full-time equivalent (FTE).

3.7 Finances

EQAR relies on a diversified funding base, including annual

contributions from its members (governments and European

stakeholder organisations) and application and listing fees paid

by quality assurance agencies. In 2013 and 2014 EQAR received

a project grant from the European Commission for the RIQAA

project (Recognising International Quality Assurance Activity in

the European Higher Education Area).

The financial year 2014 resulted in a surplus of EUR 1 654,85

after allocation of EUR 17 500 to the reserves.

EQAR General Assembly in Athens, in cooperation with the Hellenic EU Presidency

22 Annual Report 2014

Profit and Loss Account

Assets Liabilities and Equity

Fixed assets

Guarantees

Office equipment

Liquid assets

Receivables up to 1 year

Cash and term accounts

Adjustment accounts

TOTAL

2 988,37

147,66

2 840,71

177 295,46

58 293,86

105 585,72

13 415,88

180 283,83

Own funds

Profit/loss previous years

Result per 31/12/2014

Reserves

Liabilities

Payables up to 1 year

Adjustment accounts

TOTAL

129 954,58

30 799,73

1 654,85

97 500,00

50 329,25

42 073,25

8 256,00

180 283,83

Income Expenditure

Membership fees

Agency fees

Project grant

Other income

Operational income

Operational result

Financial income

Total result

Withdrawal from reserves

Result to be reported

229 317,00

49 192,00

106 191,28

3 891,11

388 591,39

18 886,04

809,72

19 154,85

0,00

1 654,85

Meetings and projects

Office and administration

Staff

Other costs

Operational expenditure

Financial costs and taxes

Allocation to reserves

158 044,68

36 684,83

147 393,22

27 582,62

369 705,35

540,91

17 500,00

Balance Sheet

23Annual Report 2014

List of Registered Quality Assurance Agencies

The following agencies were included on the register in 2014 (or for part of 2014). Agencies are included for five years counting from

the date of their external review, the duration of inclusion is indicated in the table for each agency.

Further information on these agencies and the external review reports on which EQAR’s decision are based can be obtained from:

www.eqar.eu/register.html

Registered Agencies as of 31/12/2014:

A3ES - Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher

Education (Portugal)

AAC-DEvA - Andalusian Agency of Knowledge, Department

of Evaluation and Accreditation (Spain) 1

ACQUIN – Accreditation, Certification and Quality Assurance

Institute (Germany)

ACSUCYL – Quality Assurance Agency for the University

System of Castilla y León (Spain)

ACSUG – Agency for Quality Assurance in the Galician

University System (Spain)

AEQES – Agence pour l‘Evaluation de la Qualité de

l‘Enseignement Supérieur

AHPGS – Accreditation Agency for Study Programmes in

Health and Social Sciences AHPGS (Germany)

ANECA – National Agency for the Quality Assessment and

Accreditation of Spain (Spain)

AQ Austria - Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation

Austria

AQAS - Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation

of Study Programmes (Germany)

Included since:

29/11/2014

07/10/2009

15/04/2009

18/11/2010

18/11/2010

03/12/2012

7/10/2009

07/05/2013

(05/12/2008

29/11/2014

25/05/2010

Inclusion until:

30/06/2019

30/09/2019

31/01/2016

31/07/20142

31/07/2019

30/06/2016

31/03/20142

30/11/2017

30/06/2012)

31/05/2019

28/02/2017

24 Annual Report 2014

AQU – Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (Spain)

ARACIS – Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher

Education

ASHE – Agency for Science and Higher Education (Croatia)

ASIIN – Akkreditierungsagentur für Studiengänge der

Ingenieurwissenschaften, der Informatik, der Mathematik

und der Naturwissenschaften (Germany)

CAQA - Commission for Accreditation and Quality Assurance

(Serbia)

CTI - Engineering Degree Commission (France)

EAPAA - European Association for Public Administration

Accreditation (the Netherlands)

ECCE – European Council on Chiropractic Education

(Germany)

EKKA – Estonian Higher Education Quality Agency (Estonia)

EvA – Danish Evaluation Institute

evalag - Evaluation Agency Baden-Württemberg (Germany)

FIBAA – Foundation for International Business

Administration Accreditation (Germany)

FINEEC - Finnish Education Evaluation Centre

HCERES - High Council for Evaluation of Research

and Higher Education (France) 4

IEP – EUA Institutional Evaluation Programme (Switzerland)

NOKUT - Norwegian Agency for

Quality Assurance in Education

NvAO – Accreditation Organization

of The Netherlands and Flanders

5/12/2008

07/10/2009

25/11/2011

15/04/2009

29/11/2014

18/11/2010

22/05/2014

05/07/2013

23/10/2013

14/05/2011

25/05/2010

15/04/2009

18/11/2010

14/05/2011

15/12/2011

22/05/2014

05/12/2008

31/07/2017

30/09/2018

31/08/2016

29/02/2016

31/12/2017

30/06/2019

31/10/2018

30/06/2015

31/03/2018

31/12/2014 3

30/09/2014 2

28/02/2017

31/07/2015

31/05/2015

31/01/2019

31/05/2018

30/09/2017

25Annual Report 2014

OAQ – Swiss Center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance

in Higher Education

PKA – State Accreditation Commission (Poland)

QAA – Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

(United Kingdom)

QANU – Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities

SKvC – Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education

(Lithuania)

SQAA – Slovenian Quality Assurance Agency (Slovenia)

The Accreditation Institution (Denmark))

Unibasq - Agency for Quality of the Basque University

System (Spain)

vLUHR QAU – Quality Assurance Unit of the Flemish Council

of Universities and University Colleges (Belgium)

ZEvA – Central Evaluation and Accreditation Agency

(Germany)

08/05/2012

08/04/2009

23/10/2013

14/05/2011

03/12/2012

23/10/2013

18/11/2010

29/11/2014

05/07/2013

08/04/2009

31/05/2016

31/12/2018

31/07/2018

31/12/2015

30/06/2017

31/07/2018

31/08/2015

30/04/2019

31/12/2014 2

31/01/2016

Notes:1 The agency was named „Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación (AGAE) - Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and

Research of Andalucía“ until 31/12/2011.2 The agency has applied for renewal of inclusion. Its registration remains fully valid until a decision on renewal has been made.3 EvA did not renew its registration due to the fact that all functions regarding QA and accreditation have been moved to the

Danish Accreditation Institution.4 The agency was named „Evaluation Agency for Research and Higher Education (AERES)“ until 17/11/2014.

26 Annual Report 2014

LIST OF ANNExES

www.eqar.eu/2014/

1. Mission Statement

2. Organisational Chart

3. List of EQAR members as of 31/12/2014

4. Composition of EQAR bodies

5. Policy on Transition to the revised ESG

6. Data on Activities of EQAR-registered Agencies in 2014

7. Overview of Applications and Decisions 2008 – 2014

28 Annual Report 2014